American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) announced the findings of a first-of-its-kind study on contrail avoidance, with results verified by satellite imagery, aimed at reducing aviation's environmental impact.
Contrails form when airplanes fly through layers of humidity, and they can persist as cirrus clouds for minutes or hours depending on the conditions. While these extra clouds can reflect sunlight back into space during the day, certain contrails can trap heat within the Earth's atmosphere at night.
The study, led by Google Research and Breakthrough Energy and with support from American, tested whether it is possible to identify atmospheric zones that are likely to create contrails. The team then determined whether pilots could avoid making contrails in flight when supplied with data regarding the location of these zones.
Said Jill Blickstein, Vice President of Sustainability at American. "The results from this small-scale test are encouraging, and, while clearly there are more questions to answer about how to operationalize contrails avoidance across our industry, we're excited to have played a role in establishing this first proof point. And we're looking forward to sharing what we learned with stakeholders in the aviation industry and beyond."
After collecting large data sets - such as satellite imagery, weather and flight path data -Google Research and Breakthrough Energy used artificial intelligence (AI) to develop contrail forecast maps. A small group of American pilots flew 70 flights over six months, using AI-based predictions to make small modifications to routes that were projected to create contrails.
AAL shares lost 13 cents Wednesday to $16.05.
